After working with Rowan Atkinson in London's West End, he turned in a critically acclaimed performance in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987) at age 12. He continues to work in both theater and film in pieces ranging from Shakespeare (Henry V, 1989; A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1998), to dramas (Swing Kids, 1993; The Portrait of a Lady, 1996) to classics of American literature, playing Laurie in Little Women (1994). He appeared in the update of the 1970s film Shaft (2000).